The Woods Are My Home
by fortheloveofawerewolf
Summary: Peeta is just a little bit fluffy, but kids are cruel and I decide to take him for a screw-the-rest-of-society summer when we graduate high school. It's not my fault if he maybe falls in love with me a little, right? (Katniss's POV, T for language mostly) AU, COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**I can't take credit for the idea on this one, I lost the fic (great job, Sonny) that I was reading which was similar to this, same basic character traits, same basic AU, except completely different plot. I think that makes this a fanfic of a fanfic... anyway, enjoy!**

"Ignore them, Peeta." I hiss under my breath, grabbing my companion's wrist and putting my free elbow to good use elbowing past the mocking voices.

"Getting your GIRLFRIEND to save ya, pudgy?" They taunt. Peeta's hand twitches in my grasp. I restrain myself for his sake, because I don't want to get in trouble, so that our families won't have to deal with repercussions. That's what i tell myself as I force both of our feet to move. Away from them even as they turn and shout after us. It's just another day full of teasing because Peeta might be a little bit on the heavy side. Finally, we hear her taunting voice.

"Yeah, just walk away and go home to your mommy so she can beat the shit out of you, at least she doesn't mind touching you." Clove Turner cackled mercilessly even as all the other noise died away. Harmless teasing was pushed aside, even the cruelest of them knew she had gone too far.

I saw red. I dropped Peeta's hand silently, and despite him reaching out to stop me, and moved slowly at Clove. Peeta stayed where he was, not even turning around. I approached Clove, slow, deadly. I stopped when I was only inches away, Clove's small frame still unmoved although the grin was gone and shock shone in her eyes. She was just about as tall as me, and I made sure her eyes were focused on mine before speaking coldly.

"You do not speak that way to him. You do not," I twisted to another classmate whose voice I'd recognized, "and you do not," I leveled him, then turned to another, "and you do not. That goes for all of you." I turned back to Clove, stomping on her foot hard, and hitting her in the stomach with all my rage, ignoring the collective gasp and the blonde who came immediately to Clove's side, holding her arm so she stayed upright. I took Peeta's hand as I turned to leave again. He had never turned around to see what I had done, and his round cheeks were red and splotchy, eyes filled with tears.  
"Let's go." I smiled softly at him. He only nodded. Even though it as only lunch, I had no intention of letting him set foot in the building again at least until tomorrow.

"Come to the park with me." I say, looking up at him. He nods again and we turn off to go to the duck pond, where we spend the majority of our summer days hanging out.

"Are you okay?" I ask him finally, when he still hasn't spoken since we left. He nods haltingly, clearing his throat. His mouth opened but no sound came out so he closed it again. I squeezed his hand in mine. "Hey, it's just me, you wanna talk about that duck over there instead?" I smile, hoping the ridiculous animal will cheer him up a little. He chuckles a little, sniffing.

"Ducks are weird birds." He says quietly, letting go of my hand to wipe at his eyes. I laugh, nudging him with my shoulder.

"I thought so too. Let's go sit over there, you can draw one or something." I suggest, looking up at him. He nods, shifting his backpack on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do that, you know." He says so quietly, I almost don't hear him say.

"Do what?" I ask, even though I know what he means.

"Get into fights because of me." I huff.

"Peeta-"

"Katniss, it's not a big deal, they're just words." He cuts me off, trying to brush me off.

"They're just bullies. Who's gonna stop them? What if they move from tormenting you to someone else who's alone? What then? I have to at least try to stop them, otherwise, what kind of best friend am I?" I counter. He sighs. "Peeta, I didn't get into a fight, I just hit her. And stepped on her foot. But she can't report me because there's too many people on our side, they knew she went too far." I argue.

"I don't want you getting in more trouble because of me." Two years ago, before Peeta and I were very close, I got into a fist fight because one of the girls a grade above us was picking on him. He had never been anything but sweet to me, and even shared his lunch on the days when my mom was too far gone to remember she had children to take care of. So of course, to stand by and let him endure that was unthinkable.

"Stop." I tell him. He looks at me. "Stop pretending it's okay, it's not okay." He sighs again, before taking my hand and leading us to the sunny patch of grass I'd pointed to before.

Neither one of us said anything for a few hours, me stretching out on the grass and napping while he sketched something. But soon the sun was going down and it was starting to get cooler, so I sat up.

"What did you draw, can I see?" Peeta stopped in the middle of closing his sketchbook.

"It's- you wouldn't like it-"

"Come on, Peeta, show me." I plead. He gives in and passes me the paper. My eyebrows shoot up on my face.

"It's, it's me-" I stammer. He blushes.

"Yeah, I know."

"But- I don't look like this," I hold it up next to my face to compare, and Peeta smiles.

"I got it just right, that's good to know."

"But I look... PRETTY..." I murmur, shaking my head. I'm not pretty, it's not something that bothers me anymore.

"Yes...?" He trails off, his tone indicating he doesn't know why I have a problem with that.

"I'm not pretty, why did you draw me this way?" I ask, looking up at him.

"I only drew what I saw, that's what you look like to me. You're very pretty, Katniss, I thought you knew that." He says carefully. I shake my head.

"You're delusional, I really don't mind, I know I'm plain and it doesn't bother me." I explain, handing back his drawing and standing. He chuckles, getting up himself.

"You've never seen yourself in person, only your reflection, so no wonder your perception of yourself is backwards." He smiles at me, waiting for me to smack him when I catch what he did there.

"Oh shut up," I laugh, taking his hand and swinging it between us as we head home. I live just down the road from him, which is incredibly convenient for times like this when I want to make sure he gets home without incident.

We walk in silence until we get to our street, my house is closer and he walks me to my door.

"Thanks for having my back, Katniss." He says into my hair as I hug him goodbye. He's warm and solid and I feel like nothing could whisk me away as long as I have my arms around him. But I let go anyway so he doesn't question it, and smile as I whisper, "Always." He leaves me then, and I watch him until he waves before going into his own house. I wave back even though he's already inside.

Haymitch greets me gruffly when I shut the door behind me.

"Hung out with the boy again?"

I nod, dumping my backpack on the couch and shuffling into the kitchen to find some food. I open the fridge. Haymitch follows me in and stands behind the open door.

"Your mother went back in today." He says, softer now. My hand pauses briefly before picking up the orange juice jug. My face doesn't betray me. Frankly, I'm no longer surprised. Mom goes in to the center fairly frequently these days.

"Oh?" I say.

"Yeah. And I brought a letter from your sister." He shoves an envelope into my free hand. Prim, my little sister, is living with Haymitch's wife Maysilee in California. He comes regularly to make sure I'm still alive, but my mom has to stay here so she can go in for treatment, and I stayed with her. I don't really want to go to California and live in the fast paced, bright and colorful world there. I prefer dismal and constancy, which I find here. I rip into her letter, tearing the envelope off. As I settle against the counter with my glass of juice, Haymitch pats my shoulder and saunters back to his armchair to read.

"Dear Katniss, Aunt Maysilee and I went hiking today, but since Uncle Haymitch is flying out to see you tomorrow, he couldn't come with us, he had to pack. I don't know why it takes so long for one man to pack for a week-long trip but he takes forever anyway. I'll email you some pictures once I get them off my camera, Auntie says I can't get a phone until I'm 15. I can't wait, there's only 67 days more! Rue Wilson and I have been hanging out a lot lately, we were partnered on a science project last month. I hope you and Mom are doing well out there, I know it's a lot of work for you but I'm really glad she's not alone. Say hi to Peeta for me! Love, Prim aka your favorite little duck"

I smile sadly at my little sister. She's so innocent and cheerful. I'm just glad she's living some semblance of a normal life in California, unburdened by all the problems here, and never wondering when her next meal would be. I'll forever owe Haymitch and Maysilee for taking care of her.  
~~~~~~~

"Peeta! Peeta!" I yell, making my way down the hall to his locker. Everyone sort of gravitates away from me as I pass, no doubt remembering how angry I was yesterday. But today I just barrel past them, noting the wary glances from Clove and Glimmer, until I reach Peeta and gasp for a second while he watches me with an amused smile.

"Katniss?"

"Peet-Peeta, gue-guess what?" I say between breaths. I ran all the way here from home as soon as Haymitch told me.

"I-I don't know!" He mocks my breathlessness and I glower at him for a second, laughing and catching my breath.

"Do you have any plans for this summer?" I ask, grabbing his wrist and bringing him with me down the hall where it would be quieter. He shakes his head. "Good. You're coming with me to my uncle's cabin in the woods, he just told me that I could have it for all of July, as long as I don't burn it down!" I grin, not missing his shocked face.

"Cabin? All of July? Kat- Katniss you really think my parents will let me go?" He asks warily.

"Doesn't matter, you'll be 19 the last week of June, and I'm 19 already, we're legal adults and we can do what we want." He chuckles.

"I'd love to, if you really want me to go. Sounds like fun." He agrees.

"Great! For once, you're gonna enjoy your summer without being constantly under your mom's nose, and I'm making it my mission to make sure you have a good time. He has a boat, and there's a huge lake, and there's trees and the cabin is so comfortable and bright and open and I haven't been there in years but it's still my favorite place on earth." I ramble, getting everything I need from my own locker and walking with him to class.  
He quietly nods every once and awhile but is silent as we take our seats. I'll have to watch him to make sure nothing goes wrong, if there's one person on the planet that needs a boost of self-esteem, it's Peeta Mellark, and he certainly isn't going to get it here.

 **Follow and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

"We're adult, out of high school, and ready for summer, you ready to go?" Peeta grinned at me as he pulled up to my house. I nodded, tossing my suitcase and backpack into his backseat.

"I've got directions, Haymitch says it's about two and a half hours away from here." I settle myself in and plug my phone into his stereo.

"Mystic? Really Kat?" He chuckled. I scowl, cranking the music up higher.

"I like it." He shrugs and chuckles, and then we're on our way.

About an hour into our trip, I fall asleep and don't wake up until we're almost there.

"Katniss, wake up, we're almost there." I grunt, letting my eyes gradually open and adjust to the pale light of the evening.

"You should have woken me up earlier, I like watching the trees." I grumble, taking a swig of water. He chuckles.

"You looked comfortable and I didn't want to disturb you." He pauses. "Have you been sleeping better lately?" I consider this.

"I mean I guess, the month is over so that helps."

"You wanna talk about it?" He offers quietly. I shake my head.

"There's nothing that really needs to be said, I've made peace with it and moved on, but every now and then it comes back to me. Usually the anniversary month." He nods his agreement.

"Okay. If you want to though, I'm always here." I smile, settling back against the headrest.

"I know. You're always here." We stay quiet for the rest of the drive, and I rolled down my windows to take in the fresh green scent. I can hear the river in the distance and it starts making me antsy. Peeta laughs when I check our arrival time for the 6th time in four minutes.

"Patience there, bird." I scowl.

"Drive faster, we need to get in by dark. You drive like Haymitch for crying out loud." He laughs again, swerving to miss a pothole.

"You saying I drive like a cranky old man? I should take offense at that."

"Yeah you should." I answer, hiding my smile out the window.  
We finally pull up to the cabin, and Peeta parks in front so we can unload. We both get out and stare up at it, two stories of log cabin looming down on us invitingly. I take Peeta's hand in mine as we breathe in the free air.

"A whole month. All to ourselves." I whisper in awe.

"Just us." He smiles beside me. A loud caw from behind us makes him jump and me laugh.

"It's just a bird," I tease, letting go of his hand so we can bring our stuff inside.

"Yeah, I know," He grumbles with a roll of his eyes. I laugh again and drop my backpack onto the porch railing so I can get my key out. I left it there as I wrestled the door open, turning back to get it.

"You don't have to carry my stuff too-" I began, seeing it in Peeta's hand. He shrugged, smiling the lopsided smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

"I got it, come on, let's go inside and start dusting." I let him take it and follow him in.

"Wow, it's great, I'm gonna love it here." He grinned, turning in a circle to see the open space. I stood beside him, watching his reaction.

"No wonder this is your favorite place." I nod, moving my suitcase towards the ladder leading to the loft.

"I sleep up here, your room is right underneath." I tell him, taking my backpack from him and throwing it up to the floor about 12 feet up. I'll have to ask him to move my suitcase up later.

"This one's mine?" He gestured to the room in the wall beneath the loft. I nod, smiling as he walks in and pushes his bag into a corner.

"Haymitch usually slept there, and Prim and I would be up there." I explained. There's only two bedrooms, although there are two beds upstairs. But of course, Haymitch insisted Peeta should take his for morality's sake or something. While he was looking around, I took the time to climb the ladder and start setting things out from my backpack. I grabbed the paper that I had carefully folded inside a book. I started as I heard Peeta's voice behind me.

"You want this up here right?" He hoisted my suitcase up, and I hurried to grab it so he wouldn't fall, since only his shoulders were above the floor. I took his hand and helped him up the last couple steps into the loft.

"It's so cozy up here. What's that?" He pointed to the paper I'd dropped when taking my bag.

"Oh, this. Right, come with me." I shoved the paper into my pocket and descended the ladder, smiling at his confused face as he followed. I led him into the kitchen, where his eyes grew wide.

"Wow! I- wow!" He exclaimed, touching the countertops with a little bit of awe.

"Yeah yeah, you get it mostly to yourself since I'm a shitty cook, but stop drooling for a second please." I say, using refrigerator magnets to stick my paper to its door.

"There are three rules for this vacation, these are them." I watched him read over the rules seriously. Then start chuckling as he realizes they weren't serious.

Rule #1

If you cook or bake something, those calories don't count. You made them, you are their god.

Rule #2

We do what we want, society isn't here so they can't tell us shit about nothin.

Rule #3

Always wipe the shower down when you're done.

He was smirking at the end and I sat on the counter.

"Peeta, I know you get teased a lot for not being skinny, and it effects how much you eat and your self esteem and stuff-" I begin frankly. He looks down and interrupts me.

"Katniss, it's-"

"No it's not okay, Peeta. So this month, we're sending a giant 'fuck-you' to everyone. We're going to swim and run and climb trees and wrestle and hunt and garden and read and cook and eat. Okay? We're gonna have a good time and you're gonna forget all about them because high school's over. We probably won't see most of those kids ever again. So they won't have the opportunity to taunt you and make you feel bad, and I want you to forget them all and have fun. Got it?" He smiles, looking up at me finally. I hold my arms out and he sinks into them, and I hug him for a long time before pulling away.

"Great, let's get moving!" I said, clapping my hands together.

"What first?" He asks, lifting me off the counter onto my feet again.

"We unpack." We head back outside to get the cooler and bags full of food and ingredients so we don't starve out here. I'll be able to hunt tomorrow morning for some meat, but I brought some lunchmeat anyway, just in case. We stuff the fridge with fruits and veggies and cheeses and butter, milk and eggs, them stock the cabinets with dry ingredients, nuts, crackers, bread, etc. I start to get hungry thinking about all the great meals I've had here, suddenly extremely grateful that Peeta is an amazing cook. When we're done, I tell him to get settled into his room and I climb the ladder to do the same. I make my bed, put my clothes into the dresser and shove my suitcase under my bed, settling into it to remember how comfortable it is.

When I finally descend the ladder again, it's fully dark outside and Peeta isn't in his room. I smirk as I make my way into the kitchen, finding him standing over something on the stove.

"You're making dinner?" I guess. He grins at me and nods.

"Stir fry with veggies, I'm assuming you have some meat source out here? All I could find was sliced ham and roast beef." I nod.

"I'll go hunting in the morning, I have my bow on the wall in there." His eyebrows shoot up.

"You actually hunt for food? I mean like you've told me you hunt before but I guess I was thinking more along the lines of sport hunting."

"Yeah, we never bring meat here, I did this time because I haven't been here in so long and I didn't want to take chances having to drive back into the city to get meat. Plus I hate cutting meat for sandwiches so it makes it easier." I explain. He nods slowly, turning off the fire and adding a few more spices.

"That smells really good," I groan, my mouth watering. He grins.

"Good, hopefully it tastes good too."

"Everything you make tastes good," I point out and he blushes and laughs. I get us two glasses of water and utensils while he serves us.

"Thanks, Katniss, I have a good feeling about this summer. We're gonna either die or have the best time ever." He jokes.

"Hopefully we don't die. Although that would be pretty unforgettable..." I snark back. Then he squeezes my hand with a smile and we dig in. His food reminds me of all the meals we would eat here when Prim and I were growing up, while my dad was still with us. But once he wasn't, he gave the cabin to Uncle Haymitch, who took us in the summers until a few years ago, when he married Maysilee and moved to California. I haven't been here since.

"I'm glad you came, Peeta." I say quietly through a mouthful of carrots. He looks up curiously, swallowing before answering.

"I'm glad you invited me."


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up early the next day, skip my makeup routine entirely, and feel refreshed as I pull on my favorite hoodie - which just happens to be one of Peeta's old ones. What can I say? Broken in hoodies are the best kind.

I decide to eat breakfast later, so I practically skip outside with my bow and take a deep breath.

The sun is just risen, and the birds are singing obnoxiously. The light glints off the lake and into my eyes, but I don't care, it's beautiful. It's home.

I restring my bow and sling my quiver over my shoulder, ready to shoot anything that moves.

The animals aren't used to being hunted anymore, and they just stare at me as I pass. Somehow, I find myself passing by the rabbits and squirrels, ignoring even the birds overhead. As I walk, I realize that I'm probably out of practice anyway, so I take out an arrow and aim it at the knot in a tree, twenty feet away. Normally, I would be able to easily hit this small target 9 times out of 10. But today, I hit three inches away. Sighing, I pull out another arrow and aim again, letting it fly straight but even farther from my target.

Frustrated, I stomp closer, aiming even more carefully.

I hit it, dead center. I take a step back and aim again. Not quite dead center but pretty darn close. I take a step back, working my way to twenty feet until I can shoot accurately from my original distance. Grinning, my good mood back again, I run to the tree and remove my arrows with a quick yank. Katniss Everdeen is back.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Katniss?" Peeta comes running out of the cabin.

"Damn pheasant." I mutter, continuing to limp closer.

"What happened?" Peeta asks when he's close enough. I roll my eyes, handing him my bow and the two squirrels I'd shot.

"Twisted my ankle jumping out of a tree, and I still didn't get the damn bird." I complained, letting him support me with his arm around my waist.

"You-yeah, somehow that doesn't surprise me." Peeta smiled, shaking his head. He helped me inside and set me up in his bed, propping my foot up on a pillow before disappearing. I yelled for him three or four times before he came back with two mugs in his hand.

"You hollered?" He joked, handing me one. I accepted it meekly, apologizing under my breath.

"Was that Katniss Everdeen apologizing?" I glanced up to catch his smirk before he opened the window more to let in the breeze and left the little room again. I settled back, not really sure what he was up to now but deciding to wait awhile before shouting for him again.

Not long after, he returned with a beautiful breakfast spread on probably the closest thing resembling a tray around here, a large snowshoe. I laughed as he placed it carefully on my lap.

"Scoot over." He told me, sitting beside me. I slowly moved to the side, trying not to spill the orange juice or drop any utensils.

"Snow shoe?" I questioned, giggling a little.

"Only thing that was large and relatively flat, I mean what else am I gonna use?" I nod in agreement and we both dig in to the food, me making sure that everything is evenly split because yes, I am a pig but I am a pig that cares about the boy sitting next to me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm bored, Peeta." I whine. We'd been sitting around the living room area reading for about an hour and a half and I'm not a huge reader to begin with. My restlessness is probably grating on Peeta's nerves as well because with a weary smile, he snaps his book shut and starts almost laughing.

"Katniss, you're the worst patient I've ever met."

"Thank you." I grumble, flopping backwards so my feet hang over the back of the couch and my head is near the floor. "We should do something, come on..." I plead.

"Nothing physical, if you want to be back on your feet tomorrow, you gotta take it easy today, got it?" He reminds me for the billionth time.

"Yeah yeah, doctor." I roll my eyes, crawling over to the movie cabinet.

"What do you have in there? Anything recent?" He asks, coming to look over my shoulder.

"Mostly kid stuff, but there's some adult things my dad and Haymitch used to watch when they didn't have us with them." I explain, pulling out a few different DVD cases.

"Fight Club, Isolation, The Guardian, Star Wars?" These are so Haymitchy." Peeta laughs.

"Yeah... I haven't actually seen them so I wouldn't know." I explain, pulling out a few more that look more promising.

"Hold up, you haven't seen Revenge of the Sith?" Peeta exclaims.

"No? By the time I was old enough to watch them, we didn't really have a guy around the house to pull them out, so I never really got into Star Wars." I explain.

"Oh-I guess that makes sense. Okay, we have to watch this then." He takes the Star Wars case and starts setting it up while I put the rest back.

"We're only watching one though, I don't want to be a couch potato the whole time we're here." I tell him.

"Yeah yeah okay, come on, sit down and prepare to be mind blown." He tells me enthusiastically.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I don't find Star Wars to be particularly interesting. Unless there's a really good fight scene, which so far hasn't been that often. Peeta was, needless to say, quite offended when he caught me snoring into his shoulder as I sat leaned up against him.

"Katniss!" I jerked awake, groping for my bow, thinking something was wrong.

"What? Peeta..." I groan, realizing nothing is going on. The end-credits are rolling on the screen in front of us.

"How long have you been asleep?"

"I don't know, a few minutes?" I sit up and rub my eyes. I can see the sun beginning to set outside, and I draw his attention to it. His eyes light up.

"Come on, let's get some tea and sit on the porch until it's set." I suggest. He readily agrees, and sits on the edge of the couch so I can latch myself to his back easier.

"Ready?" He checks, and stands when I nod my head. I've always liked getting piggyback rides from him, as childish as that is. It's similar to when I hug him, I feel secure and loved when I'm wrapped around him or in his arms. He sets me on the counter when we get into the kitchen, starting the kettle for tea.

"Hurry up, slowpoke, we'll miss the best part!" I urge him on as he pulls out two mugs and I dig in the drawer under my shin to find tea bags.

He rolls his eyes and hands me a mug. I stick a bag in my mug and watch as he does the same. It's not the first time I've noticed his pale eyelashes, a twinge of jealousy running through me at how pretty they are. He probably doesn't even fully appreciate them...

"What kind is-" He stops abruptly as he looks up and meets my gaze. I blink once and feel my face heating up as a look back down to the tag on my teabag. He clears his throat and asks again. "What kind of tea did you pick?" I breathe deeply, trying to calm my speeding heart as I recover from the surprise and shame? of him catching me staring again. Yeah, this also isn't the first time he's caught me.

"Um.. It's uh, mint." I stammer, my face getting redder. I'm saved by the whistle of the kettle and I press my clammy hands to my face, trying to return it to it's normal shade while his back is turned. my hands are back in my lap by the time he's turned around, pouring our tea.

I don't miss his pink cheeks.

"Okay, logistics issue here, how do we get the tea out there?" He changes the subject. I shrug.

"Two trips?" I suggest. He grimaces.

"There isn't even anything particularly hard about taking two trips, but I always feel like I've failed somehow when I can't carry everything," he laughs as he reloads me on his back. I chuckle and agree.

He settles me on the porch swing and I get to work dusting off the table in front of us with the piece of broom that hooks on the side, something that's been there ever since I can remember. He soon returns and sits beside me, putting both of our mugs within reach as we settle down to enjoy the painting of the sky. My feet extend between us, or I'd be snuggled up in his side. I make the best of it and curl my toes under his thigh, seeing the tiny half smile on his lips as I do so. He rests his hand on my ankles and we relax a little more. I wish it was always easy like this.

xxxxxxxx

We've been painting - well, he has, I've been smearing pain around my canvas - for about an hour when he suggests hot chocolate. It's been an extremely relaxing day, but I can't quite ward off my heavy eyelids from being up for so many hours.

"Don't drink that Katniss."

"What? Why?" I murmur.

"Because that's your paintbrush swishing water. Your chocolate is over here." He hands me my mug. I take several sips, letting the steam warm up my face.

"Katniss?" I start when I hear his voice, a smile lacing the name.

"Yeah?" He laughs.

"Do you want to go to bed? I can clean this up." He offers. I start to shake my head, but really, I want nothing more.

"Go on, go to sleep." He laughs again, and I can hear him running our brushes under water. Then he's gripping my arm to hoist me out of my chair. I practically fall into his arms, and I swear I hear him sigh faintly. "Katniss..." he starts quietly. He clears his throat after a second, adjusting his grip on my so he can walk.

"Can you get up to the loft without falling or do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?"

"I can- I can get up the ladder-" I mumble almost indignantly. He leads me over to the ladder and steadies me as I start to climb. I finally get to the top, and practically fall onto the floor, rolling away from the edge a little. I decide it's too much effort to move and stay there. I must've fallen asleep because next thing I know, I'm being lifted onto my bed.

"Goodnight, Katniss." I hear him say softly. I reach out and manage to grab his shirt's hem, tugging on it.

"Stay."

He sighs, sitting on the edge of my bed. I let my eyes open a crack. I feel words coming out but I'm too far gone to analyze what they are. I hear his sharp intake of breath, but he doesn't leave. I wish I knew what I'd said, I try to remember what words I said.

He drops a kiss to my cheek, saying something back to me, and I scoot against the wall and pat the space I had been laying in.

I keep talking, and he kicks off his jeans and lays down beside me, tucking the covers around us both.

"Always." Is the last thing that enters my consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning much later than I wanted to, by the light outside, it was at least 10. It took me a second to remember why my bed smelled like Peeta, and I flushed with embarrassment about asking him to stay with me. But he isn't here now, I wonder how long he was. Why did he leave, did I make him uncomfortable? I shake my head hoping it'll help me stop overthinking everything. Nothing will help until I get up and see what's going on with him.

I crawled out of bed and shoved my feet into slippers, nearly fell down the ladder and stumbled into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Katniss, how's your ankle?" He asked right off the bat.

"Better. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"See? Staying off it helped. You should listen to me more often." He teased. I jumped up onto the counter and watched him knead the dough.

"Cheese buns?" I ask. He nods with a smile. Cheese buns are easily my favorite bread and he knows that.

"What's the plan for today?"

"We're going swimming in the lake, hiking, start fixing up the grounds around here and explore everything. Not necessarily in that order."

"Alright, well lets start with a good breakfast."

I kick my legs against the counter, stalling for a minute while my minds starts tormenting me. I blink and try to start.

"I didn't-" I stop, frowning. "When... Did I uh... did I do anything embarrassing last night?" I finally got out.

Peeta shrugged, keeping his eyes glued to his work.

"Embarrassing? No, I don't think so, I mean you almost drank your paintbrush water and fell asleep before reaching your bed but I don't think you need to be embarrassed about that."

"And after that?" I bit my lip, feeling my cheeks heat up as I steadily refused to look at him.

"I uh, sorta scooped you off the floor and put you on your bed." We're both skirting the issue neither one of us want to talk about. I refuse to cave.

"Oh... okay." I say quietly.

"Katniss..." He finally stops working, stilling his hands and looking at me. I don't meet his gaze, but I can feel it on me. "Look at me." I reluctantly turn my head and fix my eyes on his chest.

"Eyes up here, pervert," he teased, pointing upwards. I bit my lip, trying to smother my smile. "Katniss." I finally met his eyes.

"We're avoiding the elephant in the room, aren't we? I mean, besides me." He joked weakly. I frowned.

"Don't say stuff like that. You're not even close to being an elephant and you know it." I order him. He shrugs.

"Yeah, I spent the night in your bed with you, is that what you wanted to know? I got up about an hour ago."

"Okay." I said quietly. I hopped off the counter to busy myself with arranging the silverware on the table, making sure it was straight and the napkins were perfectly folded. He cleared his throat and continued working.

"Hey Katniss," Peeta began brightly, changing the mood completely.

"Yeah?" I don't look up, confused and curious.

"Who do you like?" I dropped my fork to the floor where it clattered loudly while I gaped, red-faced.

"Uh, what? What do you mean?" I stammered uneasily.

"Who's your favorite person?"

"I don't have a favorite." I hedge.

"Who do you like best?" He comes to stand in front of me.

"Nobody, I like a lot of people." I avoid his gaze by fumbling with my napkin, twisting it between my fingers.

"Come on, who do you like?"

"When are you gonna stop asking me that?" I burst, ripping the corner of my napkin off.

"When you say my name. You can have one of my hoodies if you do." He grins. I roll my eyes.

"Fine! You're my favorite person, Peeta, I like you best, you happy?" I mumble.

"Extremely." I run off, dropping the mangled napkin on my way to find my favorite of his hoodies, I know he has it with him. "Where are you going?" He calls after me.

"You're gonna regret offering me a hoodie!" I throw over my shoulder, entering his room. He comes after me, dusting flour off his arms.

"I'm glad I have nothing to hide in there," he laughs, as I open a few different drawers looking for which one has his hoodies. I finally find the right one, digging through it to find the faded olive colored one, tossing the rest onto his bed out of my way. "Geez, my stuff isn't safe around you is it."

"Found it!" I hold it up triumphantly, turning to look at him. He fakes a pout.

"That one's my favorite."

"Mine too, now you can only have it on weekends." I pull it over my head, inhaling the scent that's so distinctly Peeta.

"What, joint custody now?" He snorts. I nod.

"Be glad I feel generous today." I wrap my arms around him, thanking him without words. He rests his cheek on my head.


	5. Chapter 5

Of course I want to wear my newly acquired hooding all day, but it is still summer, and I get too hot very quickly, and peel it off, tossing it on the porch swing. I turn back to my weeding in the garden bed by the steps.

Peeta sighs heavily from where he's pruning the fruit trees around the yard, and I hope it's not too much to be just wearing a sports bra around him.

We're adults, right? I can do this? I start to second guess myself but Peeta interrupts my thoughts.

"Where do we put the clippings?"

"Uh, there's a compost area behind those trees there." I point, wiping the sweat from my face with the back of my arm. Peeta scoops up an armful of the branches and starts carrying them into the woods. I get a vague sense of concern, but Peeta's a big guy, he can take care of himself. He comes back a minute later and I avert my gaze to my work so he doesn't catch me looking at him again.

"Katniss?" His voice making me jump, I've been distracted all day, so much so that he was able to sneak up on me. "Sorry." He mumbles, handing me the clump of weeds I'd dropped.

"No, it's okay. Yes?"

"It's kinda lunchtime, do you wanna take a break? You're starting to burn a little." He pointed out and I examined my arms. A little pink but not bad. Peeta had been working in the shade, so his pale skin was still pale.

"I'm not really burning, just a little flushed." I countered, showing him my arms. He shook his head.

"No, like on your back and shoulders." He pressed a cool hand to the skin on my back, and I hissed a little, the cool drawing attention to the burn happening on my back. He withdrew his hand quickly, probably thinking he'd hurt me.

"Yeah, maybe going inside for awhile would be a good idea." I agreed. He nodded, helping me put away the tools I'd been using and grabbing the pruning shears he'd hooked over a branch.

"Go get some aloe from my top drawer and I'll get started on lunch." He told me once we were inside. I went obediently into his room and looked for the aloe, imagining a plant but not sure why he'd put it in a drawer.

"Where is it?" I called to him loudly. I heard his footsteps coming and I opened the top drawer again.

"This." He laughed, handing me a bottle in the front of the drawer, right in plain sight.

"Oh. That." I rolled my eyes at myself. I turned to the mirror trying to see how bad the burn was, and twisted a bit to see my back. I grimaced at the portion of skin I could see.

"Want help?" Peeta asked from behind me.

"Huh? With what?"

"Getting your back. Come into the living room and I'll get you fixed up." I followed him out of his room with the aloe. He gestured for me to lay down on the couch, so I did, face down, groaning as my toasty arms made contact with the rough fabric.

"How did you not notice you were getting fried, honey." Peeta said affectionately, while starting to rub the cold aloe on my skin. I'm sure he confused my gasp at the term of endearment with shock at the cold, because he didn't comment on it.

"I uh... I don't know." I mumbled dumbly. He chuckled, carefully rubbing the ointment into my back, taking probably a little more time than necessary to do so. But hey, I wasn't complaining. I don't think I'll be able to take my bra off for awhile, it'll be impossible without peeling it up over my burns. Although if I got Peeta to help with that... maybe...

Do I really want to cross that line? From there, there is no returning to innocent glances and flushed faces.

Right when I was about to ask him, he finished and got up to go make lunch. Great. That shattered the fragile confidence I'd mustered up and now I'm gonna have to build it up again. I lay there for awhile, mentally smacking myself to get it together.

I want Peeta, I'm pretty sure Peeta wants me, but we both are too scared to do anything about it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That afternoon, instead of jumping in the lake like we'd planned, we lounged lazily around the living room, me leaning against a towel on the couch and Peeta sitting in an armchair facing me. I typed loudly, adding the latest chapter to the fic I'd been working on and finally having the inspiration to do it. Peeta read his book silently. He doesn't know I write, so hearing me type this much has to be making him curious. I try to type quieter when he turns a page.

I would die if he read this.

It's not that I'm ashamed of my writing, because if I was, I wouldn't publish it. I just don't want anybody else to know what happens in my head, it's a wild place.

I finished writing and editing the chapter, hitting print so I could file it away in my binder to read later, when I feel like crap. Instead of getting it off the printer now, though, I just posted it online and shut off my computer, deciding to make myself comfortable and maybe sleep a little before dinner. I stretched out on my stomach on the couch, getting comfortable. Surprisingly, I fell asleep almost immediately.

I woke up a while later, and without opening my eyes, tried to figure out what was happening around me. Peeta was still in his chair, I could hear him breathing. But the sounds of page turning sounded off. I opened my eyes and noticed him reading through a stack of papers.

"What are you reading?" I asked, curious. It didn't look like legal documents or anything official, so it must be school papers of some kind. Maybe college applications? Is he writing an essay?

"The printer was beeping awhile ago, so since you were sleeping and I didn't want it to wake you up, I went to see what the problem was." My heart stopped. "It was out of paper printing this." He held up my story. My fears were confirmed. With a high pitched squeak, I leapt up and launched myself at him, grabbing the story from his hands and running back to the couch, trying to see how much he'd read. "Uh, I'm sorry if it was something you didn't want me to read, I didn't think you'd mind."

My eyes flew over the pages, he'd gotten more than halfway through.

"Katniss?" I looked up finally, horrified. Peeta looked very sorry.

"You weren't supposed to see this." I whispered. He shook his head.

"Why? You trust me, right?"

"Yes, of course I do, this has nothing to do with that. I didn't want people I know to read my stories." I put the papers together and stuck them under a pillow.

"For the record, I really would like to see how it ends." He smiles. "I thought it was great." I stopped.

"Not... creepy? Weird? Overly angsty?"

"Not at all." He shrugged. "Would it make you to feel better if I showed you my fanart?"

"You... you have fanart?" I'm not sure why I never thought of this, most artists have some form of fanart.

"Yeah, of course. Do you want to see it?" I nodded slowly.

He showed me on his tablet, his fanart was, as with all his creations, beautiful. A few of the pieces were borderline NSFW, and when he showed me those pieces, I could feel his blush. But he showed me anyway, so I wouldn't feel weird about him reading the parts of the story that were more aggressively sexual.

"Thanks for showing me, Peeta. That really makes me feel better." I admit. I curl into his side, wanting him to put his arm around me like he always does, and knowing this was more flirty considering I still had no shirt on. He did hold me closer to him, careful to rest his hand on my arm instead of my bare stomach.

"I'm glad. Would you mind if I read your whole story? I was missing a few parts." I pulled it up for him online, showing him my profile and the six or seven other stories I'd put up. I buried my head in his shoulder so I could try to block out the concept of someone I knew reading my work. It's just Peeta, it's just Peeta.

I glanced down at the screen when I heard him sigh.

"Have you ever just really wanted to kiss someone but you just can't?" He read to himself, so quiet I could barely hear his voice. It sounded distant, like this one question pained him greatly.

"What's stopping you?" I read the next line, just as quietly, in the same tone he'd used. I don't think he even noticed I'd said it. He shook his head and kept going, holding me tighter and pressing his cheek to the top of my head. I closed my eyes, this time to soak up the feeling.

This is a closeness I've always wanted with him, it's not until recently that he's allowed me to be physical at all, having shed a lot of his baby fat and feeling slightly better about himself.

I started mustering up the courage to start showing him how much I want him as more than my best friend. If I start now, maybe I can do something that'll catch his attention before the night is over.

I start running through different scenarios, thinking of different ways to show him. I rule out a dozen different options before I come back to the idea of having him help me get ready for bed. It involved skin, unmistakable intentions and wasn't too difficult to play off if he was completely repulsed. My mouth tipped down as I imagined his face as I asked him.

No, he and I are on the same page. He wouldn't react to things like he did if he didn't like me at all. He doesn't just think of me as his friend.

I'll wait until after dinner to mention I'm gonna shower, I'll go into the bathroom and then call for him to help me. Then I'll go from there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

{Peeta POV}

My mind was spinning from Katniss. Touching her skin like I'd never done before, reading the story she'd written as well as taking a look at some of the other works she'd published, holding her against me as she snuggled up into my side... I could barely force myself to get up to make dinner when her stomach growled for the third time. I hated the cold feeling when she was no longer under my arm. I went into the kitchen while she mumbled something about cleaning up her room. I leaned on the counter, leaning down to press my forehead against the cool tiles under my hands.

I am going mad.

I can't take much more, it's like she knows what she does to me and is doing all the wrong - or right - things to get me to react to her. I still hear her whispering "what's stopping you." from under my chin as I read. My heart is racing as I think about the story coming from her head.

I hear her drop something in her loft and her soft 'ow.'

"You okay?" I try to call, but it ends up sounding more hoarse than I've sounded in a long time. I guess she doesn't hear me because she doesn't answer. I splash some cool water over my face and try to make myself focus on getting dinner together.

It works for awhile, cooking has always been a good way to distract me. But then I hear her singing and burn my fingers holding a hot potlid for too long. I curse under my breath. I'm a mess. The song ends and she starts another one, but gets distracted halfway through and stops. I hear the washing machine going and vaguely wonder what she's washing, since maybe it's a good idea to do my own as well. I try to focus on cooking again, but this time it doesn't work and I keep hearing echoes of her voice in my head. I drop an onion, undercook the noodles and smell blood while cutting vegetables. I probably nicked my finger again.

By the time she comes into the kitchen to help, my hands are shaking and I'm sweating all over. I'm a fucking disaster and of course she picks up on that right away.

"Peeta! What's wrong with you? Are you sick?" She feels my forehead, which is warmer than usual, but not by much. I'm breathing hard and my eyes won't focus on anything.

"No, I'm okay.. I'm fine, I'm alright." I lie, my hoarse voice betraying me. My entire face is flushed when I catch sight of it in the window's reflection. "No, I'm not." I concede when she gives me a doubtful look. "I'll be back in a little bit, don't worry about cleaning this mess up." I tell her, almost running out the back door. The cool air outside calms me down a little, and I walk quickly to the lake, sitting on the edge of the dock and putting my bare feet into the water.

I feel like shit, I want to rip my hair out and scream. I'm going crazy. I need help. I need help. I breathe slowly.

I let the gentle breeze calm me down, stopping myself from thinking about things or feeling things and just breathing slowly. I feel the slimy plants brush my feet and don't pull away, the feeling distracting me. I take notice of the unfinished wood on the dock under my fingers. I close my eyes and point my face up to the moon. I breathe slowly. I try to stop imagining Katniss and her concern minutes ago, focus on the fish in the lake nipping at my toes and the bugs buzzing around my head. I breathe.

Feeling less overwhelmed, I get up, holding a docking post to get my balance. I walk slowly back to the cabin and prepare some kind of an explanation to give Katniss. I open the door and she's sitting on the counter, looking extremely worried as she dries a dish with a clean towel.

"You were gone for awhile, so I started washing the dishes from lunch." She starts. "I didn't eat without you." I smile at her.

"You know I wouldn't have minded if you did." I take the dish from her and put it away. I'm being fake and she knows it. Numbing myself so I don't have to deal with the attack.

"Peeta? Are we gonna talk about that? What just happened?" I freeze, closing my eyes and breathing slowly.

"I-uh..." I turn to face her again. "I'm okay now. It was..."

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me." She interrupts. "I want to know, but it's okay if you don't want to say. Are you really okay now? Do you need anything?"

I almost cry right there. I ran out, leaving a huge mess in the kitchen and she doesn't demand and explanation, she just wants me to be okay. I close my eyes again and breathe in. Breathe out.

"Yes, I'm okay. Remember when I used to have panic attacks from... people being shit?" I ask slowly, the numbness fading away. I stop trying to hold onto it. She nods. "It was kind of like that. But I'm better now. I'm sorry I scared you."

"Can I give you a hug?" She asks, sliding off the counter and moving slowly closer. She remembers how flighty I've always been after a breakdown. I nod my head and open my arms. She holds me securely.

"I love you, we'll get through this, I love you, okay?" She says into my shoulder over and over. I start shaking again, holding her tighter, my breath coming faster as I feel the tears coming. It feels too similar to how it used to years ago. I hold her tight and don't let her go for a long time. She just lets me, rubbing my back and saying soothing words that used to help so much when we were younger.

After I've cried out all my tears, she starts swaying to music only she can hear, humming softly. I smile to myself, resting my cheek on her head like I did earlier.

I've always been emotional, my shitty home life making me hugely unstable. Combine that with bullying at school, I'm basically one hot fucking mess. Sometimes, like now, things can be too much and I have to stop and refocus myself or I start having anxiety and panic attacks. Katniss has stood with me through most of my life when it happened off and on, so she knows how to calm me down.

But lately, she's been the problem, I've been going into overdrive because of her. It's nice to see, though, that she can go back to being my childhood angel and just hold me while I fight through it.

"Better?" She asks when I start to release her. I nod, my eyes are probably all red and puffy, and I feel like shit. I want to take a shower and go to bed, but then I remember sleeping in her bed last night and I realize I have two options there: sleep in my bed and be lonely, but sleep well...ish... or sleep in her bed, overthink everything, go into overdrive, possibly lose my mind, but be ridiculously happy while doing it. I'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

"Thanks, Katniss. I needed your help." I tell her honestly. I take a deep breath. "Now... cleaning this up." I look around me with a frown. This must've been a worse episode than I'd realized, there's blood everywhere but I really only remember one tiny cut on my finger. I glance down at my hands. Apparently I cut myself in several different places. She looks sadly at them too.

"Peeta..." She holds her tiny hands out, so I place my big ones in hers. She kisses every little scab she sees, and the feeling of her lips starts making me lose it again, so I pull my hands away, looking at her apologetically. She smiles back.

She takes all the knives off the counter and floors - why had I used so many? - and washes them herself right away, putting them into a cabinet out of sight instead of in the wood block they usually stay in. This isn't really necessary but I appreciate her doing it anyway. I grab the bloody towel and start wiping up the blood and flour everywhere, wondering how far gone I'd been. I hadn't felt like I was losing it, but clearly I missed a lot.

"I want you to sleep in tomorrow, okay?" Katniss interrupts my thoughts. I nod. "Would it help to sleep with me, or would that make it worse?" She asks. I pause.

"I really don't know. It might make it worse, but I'd rather you be there than be by myself." I tell her. She nods.

"I'll be there then."

I suddenly feel horribly weary, and I sink into a chair, holding onto the table so I don't fall off. Katniss stands behind me and rubs my arms.

"It's gonna get better. It will." She promises me. I nod my head, but I don't really believe her. "And even if it doesn't. I'll be here for you the whole way, I promise." She swears, holding her pinky in front of me. Smiling tiredly, I lock mine to hers. She rests her head on mine, and I feel her breath over my hair. I sigh heavily.

A few minutes later, she helps me up and we go to my room. I take off my jeans, not really caring that I'm in front of my best friend in my underwear. She opens the window and turns back to me, biting her lip.

"I wasn't gonna ask you this because of... the episode... but really, my boobs are starting to hurt, so could you help me get my bra off without hurting the sunburn too much? Don't say yes if you don't think you should." I gape at her for a second.

"Okay." I say quietly, trying to steady my breathing for a completely different reason. She comes over to me, looking more nervous than I feel. She turns her back to me, pulling her braid over her shoulder and starting to pull up the bottom of her bra. I help, guiding it over the patches of red skin on her shoulders. It's more difficult than I realized to get one of these off.

"Thanks." She whispers, taking the elastic out of her hair, still not facing me. I sit down on the bed, still holding her bra in my hand but not really noticing it. I breathe slowly, unsuccessful in NOT thinking about her topless standing right there. She turns around after taking her hair from the braid and letting it fall over her chest. She starts climbing into bed, and I can't think straight. She thinks she can sleep with me topless? This is not okay, I can't handle this. I can't handle this. I pull off my tshirt, tossing it into a corner. I open a drawer, grabbing the first clean shirt my hand lands on and passing it to her.

"What? Oh, thanks." She mumbles, pulling it on. She smiles, smelling it. I curse myself realizing it's the one stupid muscle tee I own, courtesy of my brothers. On the front is printed 'hot stuff.' This couldn't get worse. I sigh again.

Screw it.

I move under the covers with her. She shuts off the light. I feel her arm wrapping around my bare waist. My insecurities at my weight make my heart beat faster. She curls up next to me, and I can feel her barely covered breasts against my arm as I wrap it around her. Her leg wraps around one of mine, and I swallow my whimper at her presence. I can't take this, I'm gonna lose it again.

"Rest, Peeta. I love you, I'll be here for you, okay?" She says quietly and I nod even though it's dark and she can't see it.

If I'm gonna die tonight, I may as well enjoy it. So I pull her even closer, trying to see how close I can hold her. I smell her hair, the faint outdoorsy smell it's take on since we got here. Her soft skin pressed against mine. She squeezed her arm around my waist tighter and I let go the feeling of inadequacy because she CHOSE this. She chose me, brought me here, takes care of me like this because she wants to. I smile to myself.

She wants me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GUYSSS I'VE WORKED SO HARD ON THIS CHAPTER, please leave me a reviewww :DDDDDD


	6. Chapter 6

I shove away the feeling of rejection I get when Peeta gives me a tshirt to sleep in.

He's not rejecting you, he just had a panic attack and all you can think about is seducing him?

I hold it to my nose and inhale, it smells distinctly Peeta, and I love it. I put it on and crawl under the covers with him. Although the days tend to be hot, the nights are still cold. I'm glad we're in the same bed again, my arm securely around his waist even as uncomfortable as I know he is with his own body, he lets me touch him.

I fall asleep soon, lulled by Peeta's soft breaths and the sounds of bugs outside.

It's still dark out when I wake up again, and I notice Peeta is talking. I listen to his words, trying to tell if he's awake. He's shaking.

"You're worthless, you're stupid, nobody will ever love you, you stupid child, get your fat ass out of my kitchen or I'll make you go-" He's asleep, I turn on the light and start shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"Peeta, wake up-" His eyes are closed and he's curled into a ball, mumbling everything his worthless mother ever hurled at him. I shake him harder as he continues.

"Peeta! You have to wake up, wake up, come on-" I'm nearly shouting now, but he won't wake up, he just keeps talking quietly as I shake him and pat his cheeks. I pull the covers off hoping the cool air will wake him up, but it doesn't. I keep shouting his name and shaking him but he won't move other than the tremors running through his body, it's like he's trapped inside his head.

I am not prepared for this.

I do what's always seemed to calm him the most, I sit against the headboard and situate him so his head is in my lap. I wrap one arm around him and with the other, I stroke his hair soothingly. And I sing.

I sing every song I know, and some that I don't, I repeat them all several times, and although he eventually stops speaking, he doesn't stop trembling in my arms, and the sun comes up before I finally fall asleep again, fingers tangled in his hair.

I wake up again, can't be long after, but I notice I'm alone in bed. I look around, but I don't see Peeta in the room, and I can't hear him in the kitchen either. I jump up and run out of the room, searching through the cabin to try to find him. When I don't see him anywhere, I bring the search outside, first looking on the porch, near the trees, and finally taking off towards the lake.

Panting and shaking, I spot him sitting on the end of the dock, feet in the water and hands planted on the wood to his sides. Despite my panic, I approach him slowly, walking louder than I normally do so he's not startled. I sit down beside him and don't say anything. He shifts his hand ever so slightly closer to mine, so our pinkies are touching.

He's out of breath and sweaty, his face and neck pale in my peripheral vision. I stay quiet until he wants to talk.

"I was awake, you know." He finally says. He was awake?

The calm in his voice throws me off, just like it had when he came back in last night. I turn my head down to look at his hand, still covered in scabs from where he'd cut them last night, I'm still not sure if he did it on purpose, but the knives are all stowed out of sight in the cabinet, I consider moving them so he can't find them. Then I remember, we're in Haymitch's cabin, there's knives everywhere.

I wait for him to keep going. He eventually does.

"My mind was awake, anyway. I could hear you. I just couldn't get out."

I nod slowly. When something like this happens, I don't need to understand it, I just need to be there for him or give him space, whatever he needs.

"It was like... it was like a flashback I guess, I kept reliving all those times that she would yell at me."

"You kept talking, repeating stuff." I told him. He winced.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." I say sharply, and he turns to look at me. I soften my tone. "You don't need to be. It's not your fault." I shift so that my knees point towards him and I can look at him. "It's not your fault she didn't take care of you. It's not your fault she was blind and didn't see what a great guy you are." My heart beat loudly in my chest as I spoke earnestly. I never speak this much except to reassure him like this. Peeta shook his head a tiny bit like he wasn't convinced, so I took his face in my hands.

"She's wrong, Peeta. She's wrong. You have to believe me, I don't lie to you. She abused you, you know she abused you physically but she also abused you emotionally."

"I know you don't lie to me, Katniss. I just wish I could believe you. I wish I could." He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head again.

I let go of his face to take his hands in mine and hold them tightly. I sat side by side with him, my legs and side up against his, his hands in mine. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we looked over the water.

I will make Peeta see his worth if it kills me.

And once I do, I'll stomp back into District 12 and slap some sense into that bitch who calls herself his mother.

It takes a long time before our butts go numb and backs get stiff. Peeta nudges my hip with his and smiles down at me. His eyes are red and his cheeks are stained, but I can tell he's in a much better place than he's been for the last 12 hours, so I smile back at him. I squeeze his hands again and let them go so we can stand up.

He stands first, offering his hand to hoist me up as well. We walk back to the cabin together, both of us barefooted since he didn't come out here in a normal state of mind and I was in too much of a hurry to care.

"Peeta, I... wanna make you better, I wanna help you." I start tentatively. He doesn't respond right away and I begin to regret my words when he speaks.

"Thank you, Katniss." Is all he says.

"I don't know where to start." I admit.

"Neither do I. You have a big job if you wanna tackle that." He smiles sadly.

"You know the best way to start might be to make yourself happy with how you look." I offer. This is a big risk and could possibly open us up to more breakdowns. But out of the corner of my eye, I see him nod slightly.

"And how do we do that?"

"Exercise. We both like food too much to diet, so instead, we'll eat what we want and burn off calories during the day. Swimming, exploring, wrestling if you're okay with it..." I suggest. He nods again.

"Okay."

"Body positivity vacation." I name it, smiling up at him. He smiles timidly back.

We make breakfast, a hearty meal of eggs, bacon and oatmeal. I make sure Peeta eats the whole thing and he almost rolls his eyes at me hovering over him.

"Okay, I've officially eaten, Katniss." He says, his face looking irritated but his tone teasing.

"Excellent. Are you down for some fun shit? Like exploring the area?" I offer, hugely excited to walk around and find all my old haunts from last time I was here.

"Heck yeah, do we shower now or just wait till after we're hot and sweaty?"

"Ah, City Boy. We wait till later, and jump off the dock and swim for awhile and we shower before bed."

"Okay, wish I'd known that last night because I feel gross right now but that's fine..." He shrugs. I grin at him.

We part ways to dress for the day, and I find myself hissing when I try to put on my most comfortable sports bra. I didn't even bring any cute bras, just the super practical, generally more comfortable ones I own.

After five minutes of not being able to get the bra over my burns, which still hurt, I sit down on my bed and contemplate my options. Either 1, I ask Peeta to help me and risk multiple things, the least important of which is rejection, or 2, I go braless for the day.

I decide my boobs are small enough to go braless, it's not that big of a deal anyway, and I'd rather not trigger anything with Peeta.

Speaking of him, I hear him come out of the bathroom and go into his room, so I assume he's about ready to go. I climb down the ladder wearing a tank top, shorts and sturdy hiking boots, feeling pretty fantastic despite the lack of sleep. My hair is still loose but I have a hair tie on my wrist to braid it back. I jump the last couple rungs, landing silently and heading over to Peeta's room. He comes out shirtless with his toothbrush in his mouth, jumping when he sees me.

"Hi!" I grin. He smiles and rolls his eyes.

"Sup," He says around the toothbrush.

"You city folk take so long to get ready-" I tease, starting to braid my hair while I wait for him. He shrugs and goes back into the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste.

"Excuse me, little miss we-don't-shower-here.." he teases. I laugh, glad he's feeling more like himself. He comes back out just as I'm finishing my braid, and nods at my shoulders.

"You wanna put more aloe on your shoulders?" He offers, grabbing his T-shirt from his bed while waiting for me to answer. I shrug.

"Sure, wouldn't hurt. Hopefully it's gone by tomorrow, I usually don't burn at all." I tie off my braid and go into his room to sit on his bed, my back to him. I pull down the straps of my top so he can slather the aloe all over my back.

"You're... not wearing anything under this. Okay, cool-" he mutters to himself. I feel myself blush at his words and I bite my lip as he starts. When he's done with my shoulders, he pokes at the bottom hem of my shirt.

"Want me to get the lower back too?"

"Uh, sure." I nod, pulling my straps back up carefully and laying on my stomach with my shirt up around my boobs so he could access the last of the burned skin. He rubbed it in gently, and I sighed at the relief.

I pretended not to hear the curses he muttered as he preformed the definitely not sexy task.

"Alright, you're good." He wiped his fingers off on his arm and capped the aloe bottle. "Ready to head out?"

"Oh yeah," I grin, hopping up. "I was born for this."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm at uni now so my posting has been so irregular :/ I'll try to put updates to my other stories up soon, spring break is a thing that happens soon :D**

 **Please please please take 2 minutes to leave a review on this chapter, they mean a ton to me! I try to answer any questions I get in the next chapter. If you follow the story, you won't have to keep checking to see if I've updated bc you'll get a notif email, and why the h*ck not? It's free!**

 **To those who have followed/reviewed: thank you so much for your support! I'm glad you liked chapter 5, I wasn't sure how that one was going to go down since it takes the story in a slightly darker direction. Let me know what you think of this one!**

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We did it all, we went hiking around the property, climbing under fences and running around trying to find good hiding places and jumping out to spook each other. It was invigorating for me, but sometime mid afternoon, I could tell Peeta's energy was low, so I suggested we go for a swim.

"Isn't the water cold?" He asked warily. I nodded.

"Just what we need after running around all morning, it feels great."

We walked leisurely back the direction we came, and I turned towards the lake.

"Uh, swim suits? Or do you not believe in those here either?" Peeta asked warily.

"Yeah, later, but it's a tradition here to try to push each other in in their clothes the first swim of the year. We used to do it every year with my dad and Haymitch."

"Huh... okay, I guess. You know I'm kind of a wrestler, right?" He tried to hide his smirk.

"I am sort of the reigning champion, nobody can catch me." I bragged with a wink. Peeta's eyebrows went up.

"You pushed your dad and your uncle in? And they weren't just letting you?" I let out an indignant snort.

"Have you met my uncle? He would never cave to make me feel better, and my dad honestly tried to make it easy on me but I told him to stop. So yes, I actually pushed both grown men in." I told him smugly.

"If can push me in, I'll let you pick what I make for dinner tonight and I'll let you sleep in my bed with me." He grins. I laugh.

"You'll let me sleep with you? Wow thank you, that's so generous." I snort sarcastically. He rolls his eyes.

"Bring it on, I'm ready when you are."

I start running towards the lake, down the dock with Peeta on my tail. I stop abruptly at the end and sidestep him, and he had to grab at the docking post to keep from falling in. He turned to me with a smirk.

Oh honey, that wasn't even a move. I think to myself. I mostly go on the defense. He tried grabbing for my wrists and I dodged. He went for my feet but I jumped back. I've done this so many times, I know exactly where the dock ends and how much room I have.

"Come on, Peeta, try a move I haven't seen before." I taunt, ducking to avoid his grab at my shoulder.

Seeing an opportunity, I kick in the back of his knee, catching him by surprise and sending him off balance. It's not a move he hasn't encountered before though, and he quickly regains his stability and tries to catch me again.

We wrestle for a few seconds more, and I eventually send him falling towards the water, but right as I start to laugh, he grabs my hand as he goes down so I fall in on top of him with a screech.

"You hit the water first!" I say immediately as I come up sputtering. He laughs.

"I knew you were going to win, now you have to come up with a menu for dinner and I get company again tonight. That was fun, we should do it more often!" He smirks at me with a wink. My mouth drops open.

"You played me!" I fake indigence. He looks entirely too proud of himself for that. I shake my head with a smile.

"Follow me, I wanna show you something." I start swimming across the narrow section of the lake to see if my old beaches have washed away. Peeta follows me.

Sure enough, my knee grazes the bottom and my feet find purchase among the rocks down there. I smile, the little piece of my childhood still here unchanged.

"What-oh! That's a bit of a drop-off." Peeta says as he comes up next to me.

"Yeah, scared the shit out of me first time my dad walked me down this beach. When I got older, I used to lay on my stomach here and watch my family swim." I tell him. He nods.

"Do you want to watch the sunset from here?" He suggests.

"That sounds great." I say as we situate ourselves on the sand. My elbows burn with the tiny rocks embedded in them, and I'm sure I have sand in places a woman should never have sand, but I'm with my favorite person in my favorite place and it's just about perfect.

The sunset is a heartbreak in the sky, and we watch it fading away as it start getting cooler. I start shivering.

"Maybe we should head inside now, or is it tradition to catch a cold the first swim too?" Peeta jokes, putting his arm around my shoulder to warm me up. I snort indelicately, my teeth chattering and making my sarcastic retort lose much of it's vigor.

"Yeah, the whole point of coming out here is really to spend the entire time sick in bed." We roll ourselves back down the beach and back into the water to swim back across. I climb out onto the dock and Peeta follows behind me, both of us shaking as we run to the cabin.

"Wait!" I put my arm out as we are about to step inside. "Two things. One, we can't let any mosquitoes inside, so we have to run in and slam the door shut as fast as humanely possible, and two, we technically aren't supposed to be walking around inside while we're still dripping. So jump up and down a couple times to get some of the water off so it doesn't drip on the floor right away." I tell him. We both jump and then leap through the door, slamming it shut. Peeta claps loudly behind my head and I jump, turning around to look at him. He laughs.

"There was a rogue mosquito, I think I got it." He shows me the smashed bug on his hand. I nod slowly, my heart rate starting to go down again.

"Holy shit, you scared me." I mumbled, going to a cabinet to pull out towels for us. We carefully mopped up any water that had gotten on the floors, and headed to the bathroom, arguing about who should shower first.

"I have to make dinner, Katniss, do you really wanna shower and then have to wait around for food?"

"OR you could make it while I shower and then it's ready when I get out..." I suggest. He frowns.

"Then I have to shower after, and by the time I eat, it'll be cold. You have to come up with a menu anyway." I sigh. He's right, but I don't want to wait around while he showers, I'm freezing.

"Okay, fine. Be quick!" I grumble over my shoulder as I go to the kitchen to see what we still have. He shouts a thank-you and shuts the door.

I suppose I could fuck shit up in the kitchen while he's occupied, that would be funny to hear his scream when he goes in there and the kettle is in the fridge. On the other hand, he's been nothing but amazing our entire trip, and I really want to do something nice for him.

I scribble down a menu on a napkin, then go to his room to see if there's anything I can do for him there. I should've known that considering it's Peeta, his room is impeccable and there's nothing out anywhere that I could clean up for him. I snort as I leave it.

I decide I'm going to write a story for us, he really liked reading my fiction, why not create one especially for the two of us?

I sit on the tile in the kitchen with my laptop on a second towel and start looking through my story ideas for one that fits.

It has to be a romance, because that's what we have, if I'm being honest. It has to be funny, because his laugh is a blessing to mankind. It has to be sexy, because the scenes with sexual tension were the ones he re-read. It has to move quickly, because his favorite movies are all action, I know he likes it.

With these traits in mind, I decide on a story I'd been scared to write because I have a complete lack of background knowledge.

The title: Steal My Heart.

It's been sitting in my documents with a great title and a blank page staring back at me every time I open it.

Here goes.


	8. Chapter 8

**I know I know... finally an update on this! This will be the last chapter of this story, for now at least. I've kinda lost my vision for this story so I don't see where else I could take it. I did start writing Katniss' story that she's writing for Peeta, but that's basically an entire second fic within this one, and I don't have enough ideas for this story left in me, nor is it one of my more popular fics. If you guys wanna see that as a separate fic, let me know! If enough people ask me for it, I will try to sit down and finish writing it. It's basically an AU of Katniss and Peeta as dirty thieves, so probably some fun crime stuff in there as well as hot stuff I guess. I don't have plot ideas for it either but it could be an interesting setting. Let me know what you think! I have a bunch of other stories on my profile (just updated almost ALL of them!), and some that have the same type of kinda funny, kinda hot, kinda goofy feel to them as this one does. (and also some really angsty ones if you like that too, more like chapter 5 of this story). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a review! I read all of them, and I do take every suggestion into consideration for all my stories. Let me know what you think! You DON'T need a FF account to leave a review!**

 **Enjoy the final chapter of this story!**

 **XxxxX**

"Finally," I say, grabbing my towel and shutting my computer lid. Peeta towel dried his hair, walking to the kitchen.

"Yeah, sorry I took so long. I'll get started on dinner now." He said without making eye contact. I shrugged and headed to the bathroom. The steam sucked me in and I got in as soon as the door was shut. I relaxed, letting the water warm up my icy skin and taking time to shave. It didn't feel like it had been that long, but Peeta knocked on the door and opened it a crack.

"Hey Katniss, dinner is ready."

"Alright, I'll be right out. Shut the door, you're letting all the heat out!"

With a laugh, he left, closing the door behind him. I rinsed myself off one more time and shut the water off.

A few minutes later, we were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying the meal Peeta made. Everything was simple, pleasant and easy. Me and my best friend sharing a meal in the little cabin we're currently living in, what could be better than that? We chatted a bit about what we want to do tomorrow, cleaned up after ourselves and went into the living room to watch tv.

"What do you wanna watch? Fight Club?" I joked, opening the stash of old movies.

"I'm on board with anything you pick."

I grinned, pulling out something I'd completely forgotten about.

"Whenever we'd come up here, my parents would get really annoyed that Uncle Haymitch didn't have any kids movies, so he finally caved and bought one. We watched it so many times because it was the only one we were allowed to see." I smiled at the memory, holding the DVD case behind my back.

"Okay, what is it?" Peeta asked, preparing for some embarrassing revelation.

"Shrek, the original one." I said, grinning. Peeta laughed loudly.

"Of course, I should have guessed. You talked about that all the time for like a whole year."

I nodded, tossing him the case.

"You put that on, I'm gonna go get out of my jeans." I told him, climbing the ladder into my loft.

"I don't know why you didn't just put on pjs after you got out of the shower, we were just eating dinner." He called up to me, turning on the TV and putting the disc in the player.

"I guess I didn't think about it." I yelled back, deciding to wear my most risky outfit. I can tell both of us are wanting more of each other, and if he won't, I'll give us the push we need to get this started. I put on the cutest pair of panties I own, a pair of soft grey shorts and a low cut, strappy tank top with no bra on underneath. Granted, I don't have a lot of boob to put in a bra, but my nipples were faintly visible through the fabric, so that counts for something, right?

I climbed back down the ladder nervously, and turned around when I reached the bottom. Peeta was gazing at me with a look in his eyes that makes me want his hands all over me. He bit his lip as his eyes came back up to meet mine.

"Okay," he said, his voice husky. "Either you're trying to seduce me, or I've been friend zoned to the point of being the gay best friend."

I laughed a tiny nervous laugh, jumping as the DVD finished loading and the main menu played loudly.

"I can promise you you're not in the friendzone." I said, taking the elastic out of my braid and starting to let my hair loose. His eyes followed the movement of my hands and his hand automatically went to rub the back of his neck. I licked my lips as he began to stammer.

"Do you... do you want me to uh... to uh. play it? Or...?" He asked, his blush coloring his soft pale cheeks. I looked him in the eye.

"Maybe we should just kiss to break the tension." I suggested nervously, starting to walk closer. My body feels a confidence my brain doesn't have, and I'm internally screaming as I get closer to him. He nods nervously and takes the hand I hold out to him. "Only if you want to, of course." I add, my heart beating faster as I realize it would be horrible if he didn't want to kiss.

"Y-yeah, of course I want to. I just... I don't know... I've never..." He wouldn't meet my eyes now.

"This is your first kiss?" I ask. He nods. "I know. Mine too." I admit. He looks up.

"It is? I thought you and-"

"We never did anything, it wasn't like that. I wasn't interested in him." I tell Peeta, not wanting to talk about that whole misunderstanding. "I was too busy looking at someone else."

Peeta's eyes light up as I stand on my toes to reach him.

"You." I whisper, leaning in so I can feel the warmth of his lips just millimeters away from mine. When I speak, his lips are on mine, his hands cup my face and we're both breathing hard before it even begins.

Our first kiss is clumsy and awkward and mostly a clash of teeth and tongues, but with every sigh I draw out of him and the incredible feeling of us being together warms my entire body. This is the boy I love, and no matter what he looks like, I'll always love him the same.

This story's rating doesn't allow me to go into detail about what happened after that. We didn't go the whole way, not yet, but we did get pretty close, and it was incredible. Let me just say... that summer vacation in my uncle's empty cabin was the best summer I'd ever had in my life.


End file.
